2 Replies - 1687 Views - Last Post: 15 July 2014 - 06:16 PM

feel kinda unprepared to graduate

Posted 14 July 2014 - 10:05 PM

Hi all,

I go to a small college with a small computer science department of 4 professors and about 60ish students. I go here because I get good tuition rates being a 2nd-degree student, not really for any reputation the college has. I'm going to be graduating this spring with my bachelors, but I feel like there's still so much I don't know about CS. I want to go to grad school for a masters next year, and I don't want to start out way behind everyone else, or worse yet, be overwhelmed by the courses and have some sort of mental panic attack haha.

I'm a pretty smart fellow, but I just feel like I haven't been prepared super well by my college courses. Granted I do have a year to go and approx 7 CS courses left to take. Maybe it's just me being apprehensive, who knows. I took our only low-level assembly & computer architecture course last semester and got an A, but still feel like I don't know much about computer architecture and can only do simple programs written in assembly (like the ones you first do when you are learning C++ for instance). So that kinda worries me.

In our C++ classes (the main focus of the CS department), we've only done stand-alone programs which might be like 2,000 lines of code but are pretty simple in principle. For instance, the final project of my Data Structures pt 1 course was to make our own fully-functioning version of STL map. I got an A+ in the course buuuuuuuut I just feel like I am missing out on stuff, if that makes sense. I still have a few classes to go, like AI programming, operating systems, data structures pt.2, internet-based systems, and a course called CS math (which freaks me out because I feel like there should be more than one general math class for CS!).

Am I being stupid or should I be concerned? Maybe it's just my lack of knowledge about any other CS college program to compare my CS education with. I want to be a great programmer and do well in grad school. If my school can't get me there, I want to get myself there. My profs are all really smart & great guys who graduated from respectable colleges, so I feel like they teach what I need to know, but there's still a little voice in the back of my mind. What do you think? I'd really love to hear some feedback.

Replies To: feel kinda unprepared to graduate

Re: feel kinda unprepared to graduate

Posted 15 July 2014 - 02:52 PM

Have you had an internship yet? Or some sort of research experience? I'd advise getting your feet wet and applying what you've learned outside of the classroom. It's a good learning experience and confidence booster.

Re: feel kinda unprepared to graduate

Posted 15 July 2014 - 06:16 PM

macosxnerd101, on 15 July 2014 - 02:52 PM, said:

Have you had an internship yet? Or some sort of research experience? I'd advise getting your feet wet and applying what you've learned outside of the classroom. It's a good learning experience and confidence booster.

Not yet. This was my first summer I could really apply for internships and I did (like 13-14), but nothing worked out. I get what you are saying though! Thanks for the reply. I actually have a chance at nabbing a year-long internship next month so hopefully I'll land that one.